Leave chaos behind & start managing your time!

Last month our family ministry team went to a one day conference called Illuminate (great event go check it out) and got to hear Jim Wideman speak. I have never met a guy who accomplishes more than Jim. Jim writes, leads the family ministry at a thriving church, invests in his family, speaks at conferences, blogs, and coaches leaders all across the country. He even makes time to play a little guitar now and then! Jim accomplishes more than most people because he manages his time. We all have 24 hours to manage every day and we all have the same opportunity to maximize or waste the time we have been given. Most of us never actually plan when we are going to do each day. We allow other people to shape how we spend our time. Some of that is inevitable but the truth is that you can manage your time and you can accomplish more. Chaos does not have to be the norm, you can manage the gift of time God has given you. At Illuminate, Jim talked about some steps he took to start managing his time years ago. Check these out...

• Planning / write how you want to spend your time, plan everything, writing, blogging, meetings, dates, birthdays, vacations. Determine what is important book it.
• Preparation / remind yourself to get ready for what is coming up. Work ahead. Maximize the digital tools we have on our mobile devices to keep on track!
• Evaluation / see what your results of time management was.
• Stay on track / It is easy to get distracted and stop managing your time. Don't stop. Apply the Nike principle. Just do it.

 

Take your kids on a mission trip! Here's why...

Involving kids in mission work is vital to helping them understand the mission of the church. We try to get kids plugged into missions as soon as they hit Kindergarten and enter our kids ministry by serving as families in a yearly missions experience we call Operation Serve. We want them to understand that the church was formed to serve the world, to spread the message of Jesus, and to join God in bringing healing where there is hurt. I have been taking my family on our high school mission trip to New Orleans for the past three years and I have watched that week shape the hearts of my little girls. Yes, I know taking kids on mission trips is risky. Yes, kids can see some crazy things. Yes, our work in New Orleans is hard. When we serve as a family we get to shape their perspective of what it means to serve others and the necessary risk it takes to obey the call of God. If you are a pastor and you have kids then here are a few reasons you should take them with you on your next mission trip...well this also goes for any of you who are parents...

• Kids need to see other adults and teens serve // I have been so blessed to have so many amazing teens and adult leaders model what serving looks like to my kids on mission trips. My kids have found their ministry heroes by watching other adults, teens, and college students on mission trips. Kids need to see other people who get it besides mom and dad.
• Kids need to understand what other people in our world go through // My kids have seen other children who don't have shoes. They have met other little girls who don't have any new clothes. My girls at 5 and 8 have seen poverty. When you take your kids on mission trips you get to help them process how God calls us to be part of the solution to poverty and injustice.
• Kids need to see parents serve and sacrifice // You are the greatest influence in your kids life and they need to see you serve and take risks. I am convinced that when our kids see us serve they have a better shot and embracing mission work for the rest of their life.
• Kids want to do ministry with you // Your kids want to be a part of your adventure. They see you serve week in and week out in the church so why not take them along when you go outside your normal routine to experience ministry in an entirely new setting. Some of our families greatest memories have come out of serving others during the summer in New Orleans. Those are memories of significance because they are connected to Jesus!

Leading Young Leaders

I used to be a young leader but now at 35 (one month away from 36) I look around and find myself surrounded by leaders who are younger than me. It's an odd feeling but it's also encouraging to see how God is raising up the next generation and using them in huge ways. Next week one of my former students will be our speaker at an event we do every year in our student ministry. This was a kid I was investing in when he was a middle school student. There's no greater joy than watching God use young leaders. At our church we have made an intentional effort to empower young leaders and along the way we have learned a few things about how to and how not to lead them. Here are a few reminders when leading young leaders who are in high school, college, or are young professionals...

• Young leaders are in process // We have to remember that young leaders are on the journey and are still figuring out who they are. Who a young leader is today is not who they will be a year for now. We have to be patient and keep investing because they are in process.
• Young leaders will make mistakes // Empowering young leaders can get messy. They will make bad choices. Sometimes they say the wrong thing at the wrong time. Sometimes they really make some bad mistakes. It's our job to walk them through the consequences and push them forward as they heal. A young leaders current mistake has the potential to teach a lesson for a lifetime.
• Young leaders need the freedom to question and dream // We have to give young leaders room to question and tear apart our organizations (respectfully of course). Jesus is the only thing that is unchanging! Sometimes young leaders need a break to get away and think. Sometimes they will not agree with the direction we choose to go with the ministry and that is fine ad they are fine as long as they have a voice.
• Young leaders need real opportunity and responsibility // At some point you have to choose to give young leaders opportunity but with that you also have to give real responsibility. Leadership is hard work and it comes with real responsibility. We help young leaders grow when we give them both and see what happens.
• Young leaders need mentors // Every young leader need someone to hear them and someone to push them. They have questions that they need to process with you. They have ideas that need careful shaping. They have dreams and need direction. Mentors walk with young leaders and simply remind them they have someone in life that believes in them.

Motivating Volunteers

In 2011 I went to the first pre-conference day I have ever been to at any conference. I never thought I would be a "pre-conference" kind of guy but it ended up being my favorite part of the Orange Conference last year. Session after session I was able to slow down, meet other leaders, have meaningful conversations, and learn about some issues that I might miss when the conference starts. Kendra Fleming is an amazing leader and these are the notes from one of her conference sessions which focused on motivating volunteers. This session is ministry GOLD so check it out...

Motivating volunteers is a constant challenge for every ministry team. How do we keep our leaders tuned into our mission? How do we keep volunteers energized? This morning Kendra Flemming reminded us that what motivates volunteers connects back to what attracted volunteers to our ministry in the first place. Of course none of us are motivated by the same things but these are 7 principles that attract volunteers to our ministry and can keep our teams motivated.

We are initially attracted to things that are visually appealing //  Some volunteer connections are bound in relationship but many times we are drawn in simply the look and feel of an environment. Branding, clear communication, and environment matter.

We are naturally attracted to excellence // No one wants to feed time, energy, and talent into something that is mediocre. Be committed to progressive excellence.

We are increasingly attracted to things that are celebrated // What we celebrate becomes attractive to our volunteer teams. Celebrate what matters most.

We are relationally connected to dynamic communities // Excellent leaders attract other great leaders. Dynamic attracts dynamic.

We are selfishly attracted to things that are personally beneficial //  leaders stay when they are serving and growing at the same time. Make sure your volunteers are growing and being rewarded!

We are attracted to fun! // Environments that are fun, where we laugh, attract people! We have to create margin for fun.

We are ultimately attracted to leaders and organizations with integrity. //  Know what we value and live what we value

These attraction factors help to motivate our volunteers. The end goal is to empower volunteers for the long haul. Motivated volunteers are going to thrive and serve longer. What are you doing to motivate your team? In this list of 7 is there one that stands out?

 

Don't go to your next conference ALONE!

There is nothing like a conference with your team to inspire, refuel, and provoke change! With the Orange conference coming up in a few months and time to register, this is the perfect time to plan a conference for your team. We have done this several ways here with our family ministry team but every time we have had a mix of staff and volunteers with us. Every time it's paid off in big ways. When we go as a team we make sure and create time to connect with each other, space for each other to have alone time, and time to network with other leaders. When that combination happens we all gain more from a week together. There is a kind of synergy that can happen when a team of leaders (preschool, children, students, and college) get away to a conference to dream together. Here is what we see happen every year when we get away together...

• Our team is inspired >> Taking time to learn from other leaders is inspiring. There is something inspiring about discovering we are not alone as we strive to reach this generation. When we get away as a team we have a better shot of getting the inpsiration we need to keep fighting.
• Our team is refueled >> Something powerul happens when our team slows down to hear God's Word taught, pray together, laugh together, and worship together. Conferences are great places for teams to slow down enought to allow God to refuel our souls. 
• Our team is usually pushed to make changes >> Sometimes you just need a different perspective in order to see needed change. So many times God has used time away at a conference to help our team embrace needed change. Conferences are safe places to think through ideas that might lead to changes that could lead to ministry momentum. 

 

Experience or Education...you need both!

Many people find themselves graduating college and asking if the need to gain needed experience or move further in their education with a graduate degree. In reality you need both. One of the most dangerous things people in ministry can do is wait to serve. Your call as a pastor, leader, missionary, servant is not to get a degree, it's to make a difference in the Kingdom of God. Yes, you need education but you also need to get your hands dirty and filter your knowledge through serving. Here at Grace Community Church we are launching a program to help young leaders serve and learn at the same time. Yes we know it sounds odd but we’re calling it, for now, our Residency in Ministry program. Similar to a medical residency, we view this as a post-college “residency” where those in the program will be doing real ministry alongside pastors who are a little further down the road. They’ll be entrusted not with making copies (though, as we all know, that is a small slice of ministry, too) but with life-changing ministry. They’ll be viewed as full-on staff members, held to the expectations of the rest of our staff team. They’ll also receive a small stipend and have their housing covered.

In addition to doing the work of ministry, one major benefit of the program is that seminary tuition will be included. Clarksville is 45 minutes from the new Nashville campus of Southern Seminary. We’ve already had staff members (myself included) who have worked full-time at Grace and attended classes concurrently. And as I said above, I believe that this is a great way to learn and do ministry: in the classroom and in the “lab.”

We’re receiving applications now, looking to have residents in place by August, 2012.
If you’re interested, just head right HERE and start the application process. If you know someone who would fit the bill, send this info along. If you have any questions, we’ve tried to answer the most frequently asked HERE.

We’re stoked about this program, and are convinced it will be a great benefit to a great number of young leaders.

getting a fresh perspective

This past Sunday our team at Grace Community partnered with Cross Point in Nashville and sent each other staff (with families) to be secret shoppers for the day. Of course we all kept it quiet and we showed up at each others campus to experience the environment as a guest. We have hired secret shoppers to come and visit our church before and give us feedback but this is the first time we partnered with another church to give feedback. We are working up our reports for each other but I think this idea is a great way for churches and ministries to get honest feedback on programing and really it cost us nothing but the time of each staff member (or volunteer if you choose that route). After going through the process here are a few things that make it work if you want to give it a try...

• Partner with a church you believe in. // This is a big deal...if you want feedback that is helpful partner with a church who has a shared mission and shared vales. It does no good to get feedback from people who already don't believe in the mission, strategy, and structure of your church. Our churches can learn from each other because we respect and believe in each other.
• Partner with a church outside your city if possible. // You will get better feedback when you have people come from outside your city or ministry target. People in the same city might feel bad for comparing environments as they worship with your church. This process is not personal, it's just simple evaluation and feedback.
• Make sure you bring a family. // It's just as important to know how kids are experiencing worship as it is to know how your gathering for adults comes across. Most families will choose a church based on how their kids do in the kids programing. Make sure you are able to get feedback from that area as well as "big" church.
• Get there early so you can see every part of the environment and not be rushed. // Make sure you get there in time to not rush, to walk slowly, to ask questions.
• Participate, watch people, and take notes. // Make sure that you think critically and try to participate and worship at the same time. You are a guest for a few hours and not a staff member. Think like a guest!

Our family enjoyed the experience and my kids got dessert at lunch out of the deal at Noshville! Maybe partnering with another church to get feedback on your environment might be what you need. Give it a shot.

5 books every student pastor should read.

A good friend emailed me and asked what were a few must read books for student pastors. I made the list for him and emailed him back and then realized I have never put that list up here on the blog. I limited this list to 5 must read books but there are hundreds of great books out there that have helped me be a better pastor to teens and families. If you lead a student ministry these five books are going to help to lay a foundation for a great ministry. Hope you will check these out...

1. Your First Two Years in Youth Ministry, Doug Fields
2. Think Orange, Reggie Joiner
3. Sustainable Youth Ministry, Mark DeVries
4. Messy Spirituality, Mike Yaconeli
5. Next Generation Leader, Andy Stanley

There are my top 5 reads for student pastors. What would you add to the list? What are your top 5? Make sure and share them here or on your blog. Ready, set, read.

setting up others for success

This season Chelsea and I watched X Factor along with a few million other people. It has been interesting to watch because basically it is a new version of American Idol but with some changes. We have watched American Idol for years and there are many things that the team at X factor do to make their contestants stand out. Basically X factor has done a better job of helping their performers succeed by giving better tools and coaching. As I have watched over the past few months it got me asking myself if we are setting up our volunteers to succeed. Are we really doing what we can to help them serve with success each week. What they do matters more than any TV show ever will because they are shaping the spiritual lives of kids, teens, and college students. We are talking about eternal impact not wining a contest. Here is how we can set our volunteer teams up to succeed.

• Provide the right tools. / To do any job you need the right tools. Our volunteers need the right curriculum, environment, supplies, and time in order to carry out their mission.
• Give good feedback and encouragement. / In order to emotionally thrive volunteers have to have the right feedback. Ministry is difficult. Feedback and encouragement are gold for every volunteer.
• Make the goal clear. / Volunteers have to always have clear wins to celebrate and we have to continually share them with clarity!
• Provide significant opportunities. / Volunteers need to have ownership and opportunity. If a volunteer is giving time they want it to be spent on things that matter.

 

Illumiate Conference > coming to Nashville, Feb. 2012

What if there was a conference designed to encourage and equip volunteers? What would that look like? Now we know because that conference is called the illuminate conference and it's coming to Nashville on February 18. The entire experience is scheduled, priced, and crafted to allow volunteers and the leaders who lead these amazing volunteers to come together and process what effective kids ministry looks like. Several leaders that I call friends are going to be there this year and Grace Community Church will be there and we hope you will pray about being there. I really believe that this is a one day event you do not want your team to miss. This is a big week because you can register and get a sweet discount. If you read this blog and you live in driving distance of Nashville I hope you will tell your family ministry staff about the illumiate conference. Be there for the first illuminate conference in Tennessee!

Do the Work / great book to help you accomplish more!

This year I have spent a ton of time reading about and rethinking how and why we work. Why do we do ministry the way we do ministry? One of the things I have discovered is that we can get better and working! I like work. I like progress. I like working with others to accomplish difficult things. Ministry is where I am called to focus my "work" so I want to get better at working and accomplishing significant things.  Steven Pressfield is one of my favorite authors so when I saw he had written a book called Do the Work I had to grab it for my Kindle. The entire book is set up to help people understand how to take a project and work systematically to make it happen. Every idea takes work to make it a reality and many ideas die because no one is willing to put the work into making it happen. Here are a few ideas about becoming more effective with the work you do. Check this book out then go read his book called Gates of Fire!

• In other words, fear doesn’t go away. The warrior and the artist live by the same code of necessity, which dictates that the battle must be fought anew every day.
• Ignorance and arrogance are the artist and entrepreneur’s indispensable allies. She must be clueless enough to have no idea how difficult her enterprise is going to be—and cocky enough to believe she can pull it off anyway.
• Don’t think. Act. We can always revise and revisit once we’ve acted. But we can accomplish nothing until we act.
• Start Before You’re Ready Don’t prepare. Begin.
• Research can become Resistance. We want to work, not prepare to work.
• Get your idea down on paper. You can always tweak it later.
• Figure out where you want to go; then work backwards from there.
• Suspending self-judgment doesn’t just mean blowing off the “You suck” voice in our heads. It also means liberating ourselves from conventional expectations—from what we think our work “ought” to be or “should” look like.
• When we experience panic, it means that we’re about to cross a threshold. We’re poised on the doorstep of a higher plane.
• In the belly of the beast, we remind ourselves of two axioms: The problem is not us. The problem is the problem. Work the problem.

Looking for small group help?

Small group ministry is not easy but it works. Small groups with teens and kids work because it places mentors in their lives. Everyone needs to be around people who will help push them toward Christ, toward wisdom, and toward life change. I believe in small groups and our journey over the past 5 years here at Relevant to figure then out has been a challenge. I know many leaders out there are looking for help when it comes to small group ministry. Jason Carr is a leader who might just be what you need. Jason spent years serving with Campus Crusade and at North Point Community Church in Georgia thinking about and leading small groups. Now Jason is consulting, communicating, and training other leaders about small groups. We had Jason in last week to speak at our fall retreat and he set up our small groups every sessions to help leaders invest in teens. If you have questions about small group ministry and want to connect with a leader who gets it then check out Jason Carr.

developing a theology of leadership / BOOK REVIEW!

The methods of writing and sharing great ideas are changing now more than every. Technology is shaping how we get information and how we share information. Tony Morgan has published a series of ebooks that are free...yes free...and great resources for every leader working in a church or non-profit setting. You can go check out all of the recent books he has released here on his blog. I recently read Developing a Theology of Leadership on my kindle and I wanted to share some of my favorite ideas Tony shared. Go check out this book and the others he has released recently. This is a guy who is serving in the trenches of church life and he is a voice you can trust. Here some of my favorite quotes from Tony's book...

• Leadership isn’t leadership if it isn’t released to others.
• Leadership is less about the words or actions of the leader and more about the character of the leader.
• We are all followers, but not all of us are leaders.
• Character is proven over a lifetime.
• Leadership is less about the words or actions of the leader and more about the character of the leader.

Top 100 Children's Ministry Blogs

Yea I know I am a "student ministry guy" but after spending the past five years leading a family ministry team here at Grace Community Church I have had the blessing of meeting many amazing Children's Ministry leaders across the country. Today the top 100 blogs for Children's Ministry came out. I read several of the blogs and have learned from so many of these leaders. Check out these blogs. Get to know these leaders. Better yet...if you want a healthy student ministry you might want to learn how to partner with your children's ministry team! Just an idea for all you student pastors!

Thanks to all the children's ministry leader out there investing in families and creating amazing environments for kids. You are making a difference. Check out the Top 100 Children's Ministry Blogs!

Getting your pastor to think "FAMILY"

I am so blessed to serve with 2 lead pastors that are passionate about reaching the next generation. From day one almost five years ago we were on the same page. We began our leadership journey together trying to think orange and we all three went to the first Orange Conference. We started out processing how we could partner with parents and create amazing environments for kids, teens, and college students. In your organization it is so important that you and your senior pastor get on the same page when it comes to family ministry. One great tool to make that happen is the Orange Conference and the book Think Orange. Orange gives every senior pastor a framework to understand how the church can impact the family and how we all can work together to accomplish that goal. Thinking Orange also helps kids and student pastors understand how this can work as we partner with our senior leadership. Maybe you should start planning to take your senior leadership to the Orange Conference. Here is a chance to make that happen and go for free. My friend Tom Shefchunas (Coach Shef as many of us call him on twitter!) is giving away from free tickets that would allow you to take your boss to the conference for free. Check it out here! Also if you can't go why not read Think Orange together as a team and process what family ministry might look like in your context. Getting your pastor to think orange will take work but I promise that it is worth it!

Revolution Conference 2011...coming Saturday!

Every August our Family Ministry Team at Grace Community hosts a conference for our volunteers who work with kids called the Revolution Conference. There is never a perfect time for a training event. We never get "all" our volunteers there, but we believe that training and renewal are a big deal. We also enjoy giving our volunteers a few surprise gifts for coming to our training events and we have a cool gift for this year! We are so excited that we have Joy Bowen from the Rethink Group as our guest speaker. Joy is one of our favorite leaders and she has so much wisdom from her time serving in several churches. We feel this day is important because it allows our volunteers to hear the "why" behind what we do each week and learn more about how we call all improve! Why and how are both so important ideas we need to communicate to our volunteer team. We can't wait to see how God works this year at the conference. To see our plan for the day just check out www.revolutionconference.tv.

Turning Dials

One of the best parts of taking high school students to Bigstuf is the opportunity for our leaders to be trained by Reggie Joiner. Sure the teens are having an amazing week but when you get to add the chance for our leaders to be invested in for three days it takes the camp experience to another level. Today Reggie helped our team process the idea of turning specific dials in the heart of the teens that we lead. There is so much we hope to accomplish in our short time with teens. If we are not intentional we end up trying to turn dials that are good but may not be the most important. Our goals are simple. We hope to help teens see God at work in the world around them so they desire to be a part of that bigger story. We hope to help teens follow Christ now and in the days to come as they become adults. We hope to help teens discover a faith that lasts well beyond our youth ministry. If these are our goals then here are a few dials that Reggie thinks we need to be turning...

• Wonder / we are made for a relationship with God, with something that is bigger, we are drawn to what is supernatural, miraculous, or spiritual

• Discovery / we are drawn to understand your own uniqueness and role in a bigger story, we all want to know more about ourselves and how our life connects with the story of Christ.

• Passion / we are made to give our lives away, we are drawn to connect relationally and to rescue those who are hurting and broken

the joys of having no building

This weekend was huge for GCC. We figured out how to train our set up and tear down teams! We have grown so fast it has been hard to get a handle on this MAJOR issue. It only took three years but I think we hit on something that works for us this weekend. Karen Grizzard and Katrina Watts made the plan, our set up team leaders did the training, and IT WORKED! Here at Grace Community we rent Rossview High School each week so that means each week we have to set up and then tear down all our environments. We have amazing volunteers but it has been so difficult to ask new volunteers to come into the system and know what to do. If you are in a church that rents space you know how this goes. Here is what we did! We had dinner and training for our set up team Saturday night then we had lunch and training for the tear down team Sunday afternoon and dedicated time to both these teams. Why it took us three years to figure this out I am not sure but it worked. I think the fact that we have moved venues several times hurt our training process. We also thought we could train on Sunday mornings...THAT IS VERY HARD...this scared off many volunteers because it seemed so fast and confusing. We needed the extra time to encourage, and allow time for questions as we trained.

Here were the keys...provided food, designated time, allowed for tons of questions, and had a system that made sense in place before we did the training. ALSO the one thing we would do different is promote MORE. We evaluated the event today and we know we think we have a WINNER in this plan.

I think we will have a facility ONE DAY here at GCC but not having one and renting space makes us seek to be efficient, trust God, and equip volunteers to pull this off each week. Thanks to all of you out there who volunteer each week at your church. Thanks to all of you who serve at GCC! Because of you people encounter God each week in our gatherings. It is worth it!